Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: March 18th, 2012

The big screen adaptation of the Johnny Depp-starring 80s television show21 Jump Street topped the box office chart, grossing an impressive $35 million. The Channing Tatum/Jonah Hill action comedy has had strong review (read ours) and it should have a shot at hitting the $100 million mark.

TV to movie adaptations are often a mixed bag, and for every hit (Mission: Impossible) there are a slew of misses (Sgt. Biko, Car 54, Where Are You?, and McHale’s Navy). Tatum is having a strong couple of months at the box office, with both 21 Jump Street and The Vow scoring big. He also has the action sequelG.I. Joe: Retaliation and Steven Soderbergh’s stripper drama Magic Mike on the way in June.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax scored an additional $22.8 million, a number which upped the animated tale’s cume to a powerful $158 million.

Disney’s disastrous John Carter plummeted over 50%, grossing just $13.5 million over the weekend. The pricey adventure has grossed just $53.1 million since its release last weekend – not a good number given the films $250 million production cost. Some solace can be taken in the relatively strong international numbers ($126 million), but it’s going to take a while for the Mars based film to get out of the red. Fans who want a sequel are going to have to go and see the movie again… and again… and again…

Project X grossed $4 million over the weekend. That gives the $12 million comedy a $48 million total.

Eddie Murphy’sA Thousand Words held up surprisingly well, dipping a little over 39% following last weekend’s poor debut. The family comedy banked $3.7 million for a $12.1 million total.

Action film Act of Valor brought in $3.6 million, upping its gross to just over $62 million. That’s a good number for the film which cost just $12 million to produce.

Denzel Washington hit Safe House grossed $2.8 million, bringing the action film’s total to a smidgen over $120 million. The film is now the second highest grossing in the Oscar winner’s career, behind American Gangster’s $130 million domestic take.

Family adventure Journey 2: The Mysterious Island upped its take to $95 million after grossing an additional $2.3 million. The film has now amassed $300 million worldwide, besting the $241 million take of the Brendan Fraser starring original.

Will Ferrell’s artsy comedyCasa De Mi Padre(read our review) debuted in ninth place. The $6 million Spanish language film grossed $2.2 million from a mere 382 locations. Kerching.

This Means War brought in $2.1 million, which gives the romantic comedy a so-so $50 million total haul.

One Channing Tatum arrived in the top ten and another one dropped out. The Vow grossed $2.1 million, upping the romantic drama’s total gross to $121 million, while horror Silent House dropped almost 70% from last weekend’s launch. A $2 million weekend take sees the $1 million film up its gross to $10 million.